1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to resistive exercise methods and devices, and more particularly to extensible members used to provide resistive exercise to muscles for physical therapy purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Resistive exercise devices are widely used in the physical therapy and rehabilitation fields to exercise weak or damaged muscles. Often, such devices are extensible members that are grasped or placed on a part of the body, then stretched using that body part to exercise the muscles associated with moving that body part. After reaching a desired length, the user relaxes the muscles and allows the extensible member to retract to its starting position. For example, users may grasp opposite ends of an extensible member between their hands and move their hands apart, thus stretching the extensible member and exercising the muscles of their arms. When the hands are separated a desired distance, the user relaxes their arm muscles, bringing their hands together, and allowing the extensible member to return to its starting position. Several repetitions of an exercise are typically repeated in a physical therapy regimen.
However, while useful, known devices do not provide accurate feedback to the user as to the actual level of exercise being attained by stretching the device. Users can only estimate how far the extensible member is being stretched, and are left to gauge the amount of exercise simply by the resistance they feel in their muscles. Thus, especially in the case of exercising damaged muscles, users may tend to under-extend the device and not achieve the recommended resistance level for rehabilitation. Likewise, users may over-extend the device, and risk further damage to the muscles they are attempting to rehabilitate. In either case, the user does not receive the full benefit of the prescribed physical therapy
Thus, it can be seen that there remains a need in the art for a method and device for exercising muscles and performing physical therapy rehabilitation that allows a user to accurately achieve a desired exercise level, avoiding the risks of under-exercising or over-extending their muscles.